A hard disk drive (which may also be referred to as a hard drive or HDD) is a non-volatile memory device utilized for storing different types of data. Hard disk drives can be found in a wide variety of electronic devices and systems, such as, desk-top computer systems, laptop computer systems, servers, portable music/video players, and video game consoles. Note that hard disk drives can be manufactured in different ways. For example, as part of manufacturing a hard disk drive, a thin layer of one or more lubricants are deposited onto both sides of thin film magnetic discs which are eventually incorporated into the hard disk drive. The lubricants are generally some type of perfluoropolyether (PFPE), of which multiple varieties exist, and they may be used in various combinations with each other or with other specialty additives.
There are different techniques for depositing lubricants onto the thin film magnetic discs. For example, one technique involves thermal vaporization of a PFPE lubricant in a vacuum, followed by condensation of the lubricant vapor onto a room temperature thin film disc. However, one drawback of this technique is that the PFPE lubricants supplied to the data storage industry are not pure, but rather are mixtures consisting of a distribution of molecular weights. Each molecular weight component of the mixture has a different vapor pressure, and as a result, the mixture is fractionated by molecular weight as the deposition process proceeds. As such, discs processed at different times have a different average molecular weight of lubricant deposited, with lighter materials on discs near the beginning of the process and heavier materials on discs later. The cycle of light material to heavier material repeats itself each time the liquid lubricant is recharged into the evaporator. A second drawback is that deposition of lubricant films containing two or more different chemical components will involve a separate evaporation process station for each component. A third drawback is the use of high temperatures for extended periods of time, which may lead to thermal degradation of the PFPE material.